Friday, November 01, 1963

Ernest D. Wichels Will Author T-H Historical Column

Ernest D. Wichels

NOTE: This is the original notification of the beginning of the “Pages From the Past” history column in 1963.

A sparkling column of personal reminiscences and historical lore of the North and Central Bay Areas, will begin in Sunday’s Times-Herald.

The new weekly column, “Pages From the Past,” will be written for the Times-Herald by Ernest D. Wichels, the erstwhile “Mr. Mare Island.”

Wichels, who retired from the top civilian administrative post at Mare Island last March, is perhaps better qualified than anyone else in this area to recreate the incidents that have shaped the lives and fortunes of those who settled in the vast area now covered by the Times-Herald and by the thousands upon thousands who followed them.

The Author of “Pages From the Past” long has included writing among his many avocations—in fact, during his 50 year career at Mare Island he made numerous contributions to local papers and publications, and his stated intentions at the time of his retirement was to compile a book of anecdotes from reams of material he had collected at the naval shipyard.

Wichels is a charter member and current president of the Solano County Historical Society, a past president of the Vallejo Rotary Club; a past commander of American Legion Post 104, and chariman of the Vallejo-Trondheim Sister City Committee, among other activities.

He is a native of Yountville and is as much at home among the vineyards of Napa County as the marshes, sloughs, orchards and grazing lands of Solano County, which has been his home for nearly a half-century.

With his wife, Ann, he resides at 111 El Camino Real, in Vallejo.

About

For nearly 20 years, Ernest D. Wichels had written several articles on the history of Solano County for the Vallejo Times Herald Newspaper.